MOSCOW, Sept 2 (Bernama-Sputnik) -- Imports of Russian gas by EU countries are on the rise, with Russian gas now making up 15 per cent of the EU's total gas imports, Dmitry Birichevsky, the director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's economic cooperation department, told Sputnik.
"At the same time, despite the EU plan adopted in May 2022 to reduce hydrocarbon imports from Russia, European trade statistics show that Russian gas imports to EU countries are trending upward. Thus, in the first half of this year, the EU imported more natural gas from Russia than in January- June 2023. In general, at the moment, Russian gas in the union's total imports reaches 15 per cent," he said.
In the first quarter of this year, France more than doubled its purchases of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) to 4.4 billion cubic metres, a significant portion of which is being re-exported, Birichevsky added.
In March 2022, the EU developed the RePowerEU plan, which sets out measures to gradually reduce fuel imports from Russia, increase the reliability of energy supply, and support the green transition, proposing further measures to reduce demand for gas and electricity.
Moscow has stated that countries refusing direct purchases of Russian oil and gas are still buying these resources indirectly through intermediaries, albeit at higher prices. According to Russian officials, these countries will continue to rely on Russian oil and gas despite their initial refusals.
--BERNAMA-SPUTNIK
